insights.

Lombard Odier Group’s newest Managing Partner has embraced the “Rethink Everything” mantra. Our interview with Annika Falkengren looks at why she joined the bank, lessons from the financial crisis… and the trouble with Freddie.

Investment experts have often sceptically dismissed cryptocurrencies as excessively volatile. Technologists have described them as revolutionary. Who is correct? Will cryptocurrencies become a mainstream asset class?

The world of philanthropy is changing. As global challenges loom in health, the environment and sustainable development, wealthy donors are increasingly acting as catalysts for projects that that can deliver a far greater impact than we have seen before. Three questions to Denis Pittet, Managing Partner of the Lombard Odier Group and Chairman of Fondation Philanthropia.

Just over two years ago economists warned of a “Brexit shock” to the UK when the British voted to leave the European Union (EU). Investors and companies were expected to shun a country that had decided to leave the world’s largest trading bloc, dealing a damaging blow to the economy. In reality, the aftermath is turning into a slow economic asphyxiation.

When Steve Jobs unveiled the "revolutionary and magical” iPhone in 2007, it seemed reasonable to suppose that smart mobile devices would not only change the way we interact, but help us to do more with our time. In fact, measures of productivity growth across many developed economies have halved, or worse, in the decade since the arrival of the iPhone. Why did productivity growth shrink and why should investors care?

With the soft patch experienced by non-US economies now likely over, fundamentals should run strong, underpinning our pro-growth stance. Rising political uncertainty nonetheless warrants adjustments in active portfolio risk and a continued search for asymmetric trade opportunities.